Lulu Wang’s The Farewell is a quiet bit of funny and sad as we watch Billi (Awkwafina) come to terms with her Chinese grandmother’s terminal cancer diagnosis.* Shuzhen Zhao (Nai Nai—the grandmother) is a delight, full of vim and opinions and ways to get rid of the negative energy. It’s a movie full of moments that weave together into a loving portrait of a family spread far apart by geography but with a very close bond.
The verdict: Recommended
Cost: $6.00 Where watched: The Hollywood Theatre, with S. North (who paid, because I forgot my wallet)
*Complicating the diagnosis: in China it’s common to withhold the diagnosis from the patient so everyone must act as if the family is only gathering for a family wedding.
Favorite IMDB trivia item:
In addition to writing and directing, Lulu Wang also plays piano on the film’s soundtrack.
Ethan and Joel Coen are not in any hurry to tell Larry Gopnik’s story in A Serious Man which makes for a meditative viewing experience. The gradual decay Mr. Gopnik’s life is expertly captured by Michael Stuhlbarg* and his misfortune lays the foundation for our entertainment. It’s a slow-moving movie in nearly every way, but constantly amusing and the period details are great.**
The verdict: Good
Cost: Netflix monthly fee ($8.99) Where watched: at home
*He has such good facial expressions! **Also well captured: the amount of profanity spoken in early adolescence. I suspect the ages of 12—15 are peak profanity for most youth.
Favorite IMDB trivia item:
The Coen Brothers stated that the opening scene was nothing more than a little short that they made up to get the audience in the proper mood, and that there is no meaning behind it.
Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood is the story of a friendship* between two men that had me shifting in my seat at the 90 minute mark and wondering for the next 71 minutes what all the other people in the theater were interested in. I’m on record of not being a fan of Mr. Tarantino** but man, this movie had too much movie for what it was saying.**** Both Pitt and DiCaprio bring great performances, the period detail was great, and still: No.
The verdict: Skip
Cost: $8.00 (Hollywood Theater Member pricing!) Where watched: Hollywood Theater with friend Kelly
Consider watching these other movies set in the 60s:
*I don’t think it can really be called a friendship when one person is paying the other, but we have no word for that. Frempolyment? Employship? **Good things he does: dialog (though not so much in this movie); music; period detail. Problems I have with him: his movies are too damn slow; the films I’ve seen have the same structure that ends in too much violence; the violence is somewhat cartoonish, which leaves me ill physically and spiritually.*** ***In my screening, the violence actions directed at women in the big scene at the end had several audience members expressing bro-like appreciation in a way that would not have been out of place at a gang rape. That made sitting through that gory scene that much worse. ****All of the Sharon Tate scenes could have been cut, and just about every tense scene went on long enough to have the tension transition to irritation.
Favorite IMDB trivia item:
As the Tate party enters the El Coyote restaurant for dinner, Sharon Tate and Jay Sebring discuss a movie premiere they can see taking place further down Beverly Blvd. at an erotic movie theater. “They have premieres for dirty movies?” asks Sharon. The theater in question is the Eros, a real adult theater of the time. The building still exists, though it is now a repertory cinema called the New Beverly Cinema, and it is owned by Quentin Tarantino.
The inception of Rob Thomas’ Veronica Mars* ranks as one of the few great movie-related surprises of my adult life.** It’s a movie with a lot of fan service, but it also has a credible plot and we get to check in on our favorite characters from the TV show, now firmly in their adult lives. A 100-minute movie can’t be as satisfying as the 64 episodes that came before it, but when you think something’s over and it comes back to life, that’s some kind of magic.
The verdict: Recommended
Cost: We have a DVD that may have come from the Kickstarter campaign? Where watched: at home, with Matt***
*The movie, not to be confused with the series of the same name. **The other two: Before Sunset, Before Midnight ***Matt was around as I watched the three seasons this month. He remembered a lot more about each episode than I did. This was the only thing he sat through with me this time around.
Favorite IMDB trivia item:
Funded in large part by a campaign on Kickstarter.com, breaking all of the site’s records up to April, 2013. Some of the accomplishments were: Fastest project to reach one million dollars. Fastest project to reach two million dollars. All-time highest-funded project in the film category. Third highest-funded project in Kickstarter history. Most project backers of any project in Kickstarter history.
Veronica Mars Season 3 is hampered by the fact that only 12 episodes were ordered and then 8 more were added, so there is no through-line mystery. But no matter, this season is the best season to see how the characters’ best and worst qualities are working for them as they head toward being functioning adults.* There are mysteries, more new characters and a gasp-inducing fight scene that always has me questioning the bad-boy aesthetic.
The verdict: Recommended.
Cost: Currently streaming on Hulu, also available at your library and in DVD box sets Where watched: at home
*In this round of viewing it’s also the season where I realized that while I would want to be on Veronica Mars’ good side, she would be a hard person to be friends with. And a terrible person to be in a relationship with.
Favorite IMDB trivia item:
Creator Rob Thomas said that Ryan Hansen’s character Dick Casablancas was not originally meant to be a series regular. He was first cast for the second episode, as a nameless, rich Neptune resident with one line (“Logan!”). Thomas said that they read many young actors for the line, and when it came down to a choice between Hansen or another actor, they cast Hansen purely because he had “good hair”.
Veronica Mars Season 2 doesn’t have the excellent season-long mystery that Season 1 does*; what it excels in is Logan/Veronica banter. It’s also the season where we see the extent of the corruption in her town of Neptune, California. At this point the cast has really gelled and easily absorbs a few new characters.
The verdict: Recommended
Cost: Currently streaming on Hulu, also available at your library and in DVD box sets Where watched: at home
*Though Season 2’s main plot arc is worthy; it’s just not as nuanced as Season 1
Favorite IMDB trivia item:
The sticker of the black circle with the bananas in the middle on Veronica’s locker is the album cover of The Dandy Warhols. The album features the theme song “We Used to Be Friends”. (Fun fact: Matt his his own version of this song he sings as the opening credits roll.)
Rob Thomas created Veronica Mars, and I will be forever thankful. This show has always been hard to sum up in a way that makes people want to watch it* and it’s also a show worthy of watching, especially if you care about young women coming of age.** The first season has the best season-long mystery, and it also quickly sets the foundation what’s to come including tense drama, funny quips, the best dad-daughter relationship on TV, excellent (and trying) friendships, the best bunch of side characters, and a first-name portmanteau that fans (aka Marshmallows***) are still invoking all these years later.
The verdict: Recommended
Cost: Currently streaming on Hulu, also available at your library and in DVD box sets**** Where watched: at home
*Unfortunately, Nancy Drew has cornered the market on the term “girl detective” which means when you mention Veronica is the daughter of a P.I. and is trying to figure out who killed her best friend, everyone immediately goes to a very 50s place. Whereas this is a darker, early-2000s place. **Things we talk about now, that we didn’t when the show first aired in 2004: how the trauma Veronica experienced changed her, for good and bad. ***Fans are called Marshmallows because of a thing Veronica’s friend Wallace says in the first episode ****Because you get extras and also because it has the original opening to the pilot that was not aired, but is much better.
Favorite IMDB trivia item:
UPN, the network that aired this show, was concerned during early episodes that viewers would confuse Teddy Dunn and Jason Dohring, who play Duncan and Logan. A color code was created where Dunn wore blues, and Dohring wore earth tones. The color code was maintained for the duration of the series. (Fun fact: my coworker said she still never could keep them straight.)
Nisha Ganatra gives us a rare object in Late Night: the grown up comedy. Aside from a great cast* it’s also an interesting look at how those past-your-bedtime** comedy shows get created. It’s got some laugh-out-loud moments, and many chuckles and I found myself thoroughly charmed.
The verdict: Recommended
Cost: $6.00 Where watched: the Laurelhurst Theater
*Emma Thompson of course, and Mindy Kaling. And all those writers in the writers room were fun to watch and I enjoyed seeing Paul Walter Hauser, who was so good as the not-so-smart buddy Shawn in I, Tonya **It occurs to me that probably no one thinks of these shows this way any longer. I’m asleep by 10, but still see bits from late-night comedy shows because they are available on YouTube
Favorite IMDB trivia item:
A poster for director Nisha Ganatra’s first feature, Chutney Popcorn, can be seen on the wall of Molly’s room.
I hadn’t seen David Fincher’s Fight Club since 1999*, and wasn’t at all certain it would hold up, so I pressed play with some amount of trepidation. My trepidation vanished in the first few minutes and I found myself settling back into the feeling I remember the movie giving me the first time I watched it.** It’s violent, a bit terrifying, hilarious, runs at a breakneck pace, and might be both Edward Norton and Brad Pitt’s best performances*** and if you haven’t seen this film, get thee to a viewing.****
The verdict: Recommended
Cost: free from the Multnomah County Library Where watched: at home, as part of Filmspotting’s 9 from ’99*****
Consider also watching these other fine Fincher films:
*Or rather, since the year 2000, as the journal excerpt below proves. **The feeling in question: This movie is awesome! I also want to be in a Fight Club! And also, no, I can see that it isn’t actually a good thing! But I still am enjoying myself tremendously watching this film. ***This movie also manages the impossible: it’s a movie about men doing men things that exclude women, its plot contains only one woman and she’s more of a plot point than a character, and yet still I find myself charmed. How does this film do that? ****It’s been 20 years since its release, so you probably know the twist. It’s still worth watching if you do. *****And between this film, the Sixth Sense, and the Matrix the year 1999 was sending a very strong message that all was not as it seemed.
Favorite IMDB Trivia:
Author Chuck Palahniuk first came up with the idea for the novel after being beaten up on a camping trip when he complained to some nearby campers about the noise of their radio. When he returned to work, he was fascinated to find that nobody would mention or acknowledge his injuries, instead saying such commonplace things as “How was your weekend?” Palahniuk concluded that the reason people reacted this way was because if they asked him what had happened, a degree of personal interaction would be necessary, and his workmates simply didn’t care enough to connect with him on a personal level. It was his fascination with this societal ‘blocking’ which became the foundation for the novel.
Special bonus:
Excerpt from my journal the day I watched Fight Club:
Olivia Wilde’s movie Booksmart isn’t just about two studious high school students who go to a party; the reason they attend the party is the crux of the film. There are hijinks along the way, and standard movie stuff happens* but the realization that drives the need to attend a party is what sold this movie for me. There were a couple of scenes I adored and the movie is also populated with a variety of interesting types** and some excellent markers of how high school looks different from my own experience.
The verdict: Recommended
Cost: $9.00 Where watched: Laurelhurst Theater with Matt, who also liked it.
Laggies (because Kaitlyn Dever is so good in that)
Lady Bird (because Beanie Feldstein is so good in that)
*It’s the same list I had for Wine Country (hijinks, things not going according to plan, fights, personal realizations, a happy ending) and because it’s a raunchy comedy you can add vomiting. **Beanie Feldstein and Kaitlyn Dever are great as I knew they would be, but I also loved Skyler Gisondo as the kid trying to buy his way into everyone’s heart, Molly Gordon as the girl known by an unfortunate nickname, Bille Lourd as the weird girl who is everywhere, and Michael Patrick O’Brien’s short turn as Pat the Pizza Guy.
Favorite IMDB triva item:
In a May 24, 2019, interview on National Public Radio’s program “All Things Considered,” director Olivia Wilde explained the word “Malala” as it is used by the two best friends Amy and Molly as an inside reference between them: “‘Malala’ is their code word for unconditional support. So what ‘malala’ means is that what I’m asking you to do now with me you must do….Malala [Yousafzai, the Pakistani advocate for girls’ education and the youngest-ever Nobel laureate] is one of their great role models. And I think that’s why she holds the most significant place in their friendship, the idea that if you call ‘Malala,’ you must really mean it.”
